Officially, hooked. One reason I am a train aficionado is the unhurried atmosphere at the train station. Another is that, unlike air travel, which is about getting from point A to point B, the train ride is an integral part of the vacation experience. Amtrak did not disappoint!
Meals are shared with interesting people. Dinner with a couple from Northern Virginia and a pie-maker from Dodge City. Breakfast with a couple from Pittsburgh. Lunch with a man from Palm Springs and a woman from Riverside, California. Dinner with a woman from Wisconsin and her college-age daughter. Pleasurable conversation with good food and wine.
Stepping off the train during “fresh air” stops I chatted with a guy from Poughkeepsie and a couple from Pittsburgh. Talked with grandparents and their 9-year old grandson. The young fella showed me how to make time-lapse videos using my iPhone. (All photos credit The Weekly Opine.) theweeklyopine.com/current-events/2019/6/26/railing-away
Midday mellowness abounds in Union Station’s Great Hall in Chicago.
Cozy roomette quarters have a Mercury capsule feel.
Glaciers did a number on Illinois, making it the second flattest state after Florida. Incessant rain has done a number on Illinois farmers. Many bare fields in late-June.
The Mississippi River is more intimidating when swollen from a deluge of rain.
The Harvey Hotel in Dodge City, Kansas.
Storefronts in La Junta, Colorado, seen during a stop for fresh air.
Here we go! First close-up of mountains, north of Trinidad, Colorado.
Room with a view, riding through New Mexico.
Big sky in New Mexico the day before the longest day of the year.
New Mexico’s rugged beauty offers ample photo opportunities.
A cool formation in New Mexico.
A great wall in New Mexico.
Post-train ride, downtown L.A. seen from Griffith Observatory in the Los Feliz neighborhood.
Holy Toledo! The Griffith Park cave that was staged as the bat cave in the 1960s campy TV show “Batman.”
View from hills in San Diego looking toward downtown.
In the land of milk & honey, heading north on Hwy. 5 between San Diego and L.A.
Another room with a view, from my hotel balcony in Century City. Just beyond the foreground is Beverly Hills and hilly Benedict Canyon.
Headed home after a splendid SoCal vacay. Mountains at dusk north of Lytle Creek, California. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)
On the way home New Mexico was still magnificent! (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)
Final sunset of 9-night vacay. Near the Colorado-Kansas border. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)